One day after Gov. Dave Heineman said he would not run for Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson’s seat in 2012, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning announced on Nov. 5 that he would. And he has formed an exploratory committee to begin raising funds. Both Heineman and Bruning won landslide reelection bids on Nov. 2.
Nelson won a sweeping bid for reelection in 2006, garnering 64 percent of the vote...

Rodney Anderson, 21, is expected to survive after being shot Oct. 26 near 33rd and Fowler. Police made two arrests in the case: Willie McIntrye, 30, will be charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm charges; and Tracy Johnson, 20, faces attempted murder and a pair of weapons charges.
Tiffany Long, 29, survived after allegedly being shot by her boyfriend, Quo Vadis Kellog, 30, Oct....

The U. S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln would house one of five new federal biofuel research centers. The centers are funded with $10 million from the 2010 Agricultural Appropriations Bill and operated by the Agricultural Research Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
The four additional centers, some operating from more than one location,...

How bad is the record keeping in the Omaha Fire Department? Bad enough that Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley says he can't perform a department audit because the financial books are too disorganized.
In a report released Oct. 28, Foley called the OFD’s payroll and time sheets “inadequate and unreliable,” saying there was no way to tell if employees were working their assigned shifts....

Three people were charged Oct. 27 with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of Cesar Sanchez-Gonzales at his South Omaha auto repair business on Oct. 22. Investigators say the murder resulted from a cocaine deal gone bad.
Prosecutors identified Robert Nave, 36, of Kansas City, as the alleged gunman. Along with Kim Thomas, 57, and Shawn McGuire, 41 — both with Kansas City ties...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ruffled feathers two weeks ago when she said the State Department is "inclined" to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Opponents of the nearly 2,000-mile line that would pump 37 billion gallons of oil a day from Canada to Texas immediately raised concerns over the comments, but now an anonymous State Department source tells Reuters that a decision...